every nook and corner

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you tell me whether I am right with my choice of the suitable interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentences?

..in the parlor Jessica was playing at the piano, the sound of the merry waltz filling every nook and corner of the comfortable home. (Th. Dreiser, “Sister Carrie”)

There was going to be quacking and grunting, mocking and neighing from every nook and corner. (V. W. Brooks, "The Confident Years")

every nook and corner = all over the place

V.

[Route21]

Hi Vil

As a NES, but not a teacher, I'm afraid that I haven't come across the expression: "every nook and corner" before, but what I have come across (and used) is a similar expression: "every nook and cranny", which would mean the same.

See: every nook and cranny: - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.
"every part of a place" including "every small, out-of-the-way place or places where something can be hidden".

In your case it would mean every small extremity of the location involved.

Hope this helps
R21

[vil]

Hi Route21,

Thank you for your anxiety concerning my ancient English as well as for your striving for its modernizing.

I have come across the expression in question by reading of a great number of English books.

Here is a sentence of the famous “The Old Curiosity Shop” written by the weighty Ch. Dickens.

“In that low and marshy spot the fog filled every nook and corner with a thick dense cloud.”

Thank you again for your kindness.

V.

[BobK]

Hi Route21,

Thank you for your anxiety concerning my ancient English as well as for your striving for its modernizing.

I have come across the expression in question by reading of a great number of English books.

Here is a sentence of the famous “The Old Curiosity Shop” written by the weighty Ch. Dickens.

“In that low and marshy spot the fog filled every nook and corner with a thick dense cloud.”

Thank you again for your kindness.

V.

That was written at a time when 'nook' was a regular part of an ordinary person's vocabulary. Today, 'nook' is rarely used on its own, but a fossil lives on in the term 'inglenook' (a kind of fireplace: File:Ingle nook.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and the phrase 'nook and cranny' - which means a bit more than just 'everywhere'; it is 'everywhere [usually as an area of a search, minute, detailed, punctilious...]. When a child says 'I've looked everywhere', its parent might raise an eyebrow and say 'Everywhere? Every nook and cranny?

Another example of the word 'nook' surviving on its own is in the title of the book/play/film 'Rookery Nook'; this itself was pre-war (i.e. WWII), but the films are more recent.

b

[5jj]

I have come across the expression in question by reading of a great number of English books..

That's fine, Vil, but other readers need to know that expressions found in books published in 1840/41 and 1900 are not commonly used in 2011.

R21 provided a version for the benefit of those interested in more modern language.

[birdeen's call]

Here is a sentence of the famous “The Old Curiosity Shop” written by the weighty Ch. Dickens.

"Weighty" doesn't really work here. It means that Dickens weighed a lot of kilograms. In my opinion.

[BobK]

"Weighty" doesn't really work here. It means that Dickens weighed a lot of kilograms. In my opinion.

I think you can look forward to a tart response BC! I agree that 'weighty' isn't the most apt of collocations, but it can mean 'considerable/worthy...'.

b